Natural gas futures rise 2.65% in afternoon trade

Natural gas futures rose to Rs 135.50 per mmBtu on July 6 as participants increased their long positions. The commodity jumped 16 percent last week on the Nymex.

Price is being supported by expectations of an increase in cooling demand as hot weather is seen in parts of the US.

In the futures market, natural gas for July delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 136.80 and an intraday low of Rs 132 per mmBtu on Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, natural gas touched a low of Rs 115.50 and a high of Rs 184.50.

Natural gas delivery for July gained Rs 3.50, or 2.65 percent, to Rs 135.60 per mmBtu at 14:51 hours IST on a business turnover of 15,720 lots.

The same for August delivery edged higher by Rs 3.10, or 2.27 percent, to Rs 136.40 per mmBtu on a business volume of 1,489 lots.

The value of July and August's contracts traded so far is Rs 850.31 crore and Rs 31.62 crore, respectively.

Natural gas will trade in a higher range as long as Rs 129 is held as support, whereas resistance is Rs 135-137, according to Motilal Oswal.

At 09:24 (GMT), the natural gas price was up 4.15 percent at $1.80 per mmBtu in New York.

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